


Unspoken

by Arithese



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Burns, Emotional Trauma, Episode: s03e04 The Croaking, Fluff, Gen, Runnning Away, Sickness, brotherly conflict, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2019-07-25 05:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: Another version of 'The Croaking'. Mikey gets upset after the events with the mom-thing and runs away. Can his brothers make up with him?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because I wasn't satisfied with the way 'The croaking started'. So I wrote another version.

So much has changed these last few months. They were so happy, yes they fought dangerous enemies every day, the Kraang, Shredder, mutants, but they were happy. And just like that, it all shattered. Leo got beat up by the Shredder, he broke his body and his spirit, forced him into a coma. The Kraang invaded New York and they were forced to flee.

They went to April's farmhouse, far away from the city and any other humans. They took care of Leo first, removing all his gear and wrappings and putting him in the tub. So he could heal faster Donnie had said.

After that everything just went downhill. The tension around the house was just so thick. They were all sulking over the death of their father. And every night Mikey was back again. Every night he saw his father, being thrown into the water, flushed away to die. And no one came when he awoke, screaming and crying for his father.

Nobody came when he began to trash in his bed, trapped in another nightmare. All of them trapped in their own. And Mikey knew he couldn't bother them with his little nightmares, figuring everyone had them.

But life carried on, the learned to deal with everything that happened, April accepting her dad was a mutant once more, but this time a mindless Kraang mutant. Casey had to accept the possible mutation of his little sister and father.

So many times Mikey had seen him crying, or heard him crying. He would never show but Mikey knew Casey was devastated by the possibility of losing his little sister and father. They meant everything to him. One time Mikey had even discovered him in his bed, sleeping. But he was far from peaceful, his face was in a grimace and tears were streaming down his face.

A necklace, with a picture of his little sister and father, clutched so his chest, rocking back and forth in the bed. Mikey had never seen Casey so hurt, and so devastated. The usual sarcastic and tough teen was crying his heart out. And only then he realized Casey was also a teen, just like them.

Donnie got more independent by the day. Every time Leo didn't wake up, stayed unconscious, Donnie became more silent. He was always in the barn, trying to create a medicine and sulking over Leo. Guilt consuming him.

Raph became even more tempered. Snapping at everyone and arguing about the stupidest things. And when he wasn't arguing, or training, he was watching Leo. Every night and every day he sat there, at Leo's side, talking to him and hoping he would wake up.

April was the only one trying to lift their spirits but it wasn't helping, and eventually she gave up too.

Mikey became worse every day. He always wanted to make his brothers laugh, but It wasn't working anymore. They weren't a family anymore. Everyone went their own way and was falling apart. He tried to hide it from his brothers, they had enough problems on their own.

He smiled and tried to make jokes, just hide it. But even a cloud can't contain the rain forever, and it is doomed to fall sometimes.

TMNT

Mikey sighed as he blankly stared at the TV in front of him. No matter how much he liked the show he couldn't bring himself to laugh. The last few days kept repeating itself, every time he closed his eyes, every time he fell asleep he was back.

If it wasn't his constant nightmares about the death of Splinter it was about the things that happened at the farmhouse. Raph turning into a mutant plant, Leo still being in a coma, or the time he was attacked by the mom-thing.

He whimpered slightly as he felt his stomach protesting again. Nobody had cared after they escaped from the mom-thing. Nobody even blinked when he had started vomiting on the ground, the only thing Leo had done was placing a hand on Mikey's shell, but nobody cared. Leo had just thanked April, instead of asking how Mikey was okay or anything.

Raph and Casey just walked off, talking about how wicked the mom-thing actually was, being the last ones to enter it. April held Donnie and Leo with walking, both still a bit nauseous from being stuck in the mom-thing.

Slowly Mikey brought his knees to his plastron and folded his arms around it. He winced and placed his forehead on top of his knees, trying to block out the nauseous feeling in his belly. He felt awful, his belly was protesting and he could feel the familiar feeling coming up again.

'Feel my barbarian punch' Came from the television just as Mikey slapped a hand in front of his mouth. He jumped up and ran towards the bathroom. He could just make it in time before he emptied his stomach for the fourth time since the mom-thing accident.

He whimpered as another wave of nausea hit him and he hurled again. His whole body was trembling as he leaned against the wall, waiting for the horrible feeling to pass. He whimpered again and tipped his head back, resting it against the cold wall. A few tears were stinging in his eyes but he wasn't about to cry.

"Hey Mikey! You coming? Dinner's ready" Leo announced as he knocked on the door. Mikey praised himself inwards for locking the door, they wouldn't care anyways. Taking a deep breath he stood up, waiting when his head began to spin slightly.

"S-Sure dude" Mikey said, trying to hide his shiver and quickly took some water, humming slightly when the cold liquid found its way down his throat, easing the burning feeling slightly. He took a deep breath and waited for it to subside and unlocked the door.

"What took you… " Leo started with a frown on his face but stopped mid-sentence when a horrible smell entered his nose. "Mikey what happened?!" Leo exclaimed and pushed Mikey aside, walking over to the toilet with his crutch, which Mikey forgot to flush.

"Mikey is this…?" Leo started but was unable to finish his sentence. Mikey bit his lip.

"Forget it Leo" He snapped and turned around. He didn't care about him when they were just out of the mom-thing, why would he care right now? Besides he had more important stuff to worry about, his leg for example.

"Mikey hold on!" Leo screamed and ran after his baby brother as fast as he could with the crutch, placing a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Are you okay?" He whispered but Mikey slapped Leo's hand off his shoulder.

"I'm fine, why would you even care?!" He snapped right in Leo's face and turned around, walking down the stairs, Leo closely behind him.

"Mikey tell me what is going on!" Leo screamed towards Mikey as Mikey walked into the living room. He wanted to go after him but what stopped by Raph.

"Easy Leo, what is going on?" Raph huffed and released Leo, watching the leader in blue carefully.

"Ask him" He said gesturing to Mikey. "Mikey just hurled in the toilet" He added and looked over to Mikey. He had no idea why Mikey was ignoring him, or rejecting him. He wasn't like that, he would always accept them, he never snapped at them.

"WHAT?!" Raph exclaimed and turned towards Mikey, who was now standing in front of the TV, tears prickling in his eyes. "Why didn't ya tell us you were sick?" Raph asked and took a step towards his little brother, just as Donnie, April and Casey joined the rest of them, having heard the conversation but before anyone could say anything Mikey opened his mouth.

"Because none of you care! You are all just too busy with yourself" Mikey exclaimed and threw his hands in the air, feeling the unusual anger flow through him. They were all stunned by Mikey's outburst, back in New York he would've never done that, not even on his worst day would he scream like that.

"What the shell Mikey, of course we care!" Leo snapped back. Mikey bit his lip to force the tears back. He wasn't about to cry, not in front of the people that didn't care about him.

"You don't have to lie Leo" Mikey said in a low tone that sent shivers through all of them. "If you cared about me, why won't you team up with me on patrol? Or play games, or spar with me with training, because I'm just a big screw up isn't it?!" Mikey screamed and forced his hands into fists, biting back the tears.

"That's not true Mikey, you know that." Leo argued. "Everything has just been messed up lately, with Karai and the whole invasion and…" Leo wanted to continue but Mikey cut him off.

"See that is your whole problem, you only care about the rest. Where were you when Tiger Claw injured me, or when Rahzar slashed me?! You don't care about me!" Mikey spat out but he wasn't done yet.

"You have been out for 3 months Leo, you don't know what happened in between, and the moment you showed up you expect everyone to pity you with your stupid leg!" Gesturing towards the crutch in his hands.

Silence, nobody dared to move or say anything. Never they had thought Mikey would act like this, snap towards his brothers. Mikey was trembling on his feet. His eyes filled with tears that held so much pain. Every memory and every nightmare he had in the past three months, were all threatening to come out.

"Now you stepped over the line!" Raph growled and stepped between Leo and Mikey, his arms raised. Mikey quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and glared at Raph.

"Go ahead, hit me. You've already done that before" Mikey said and bit his lip again, which was already starting to bleed from all the force he was putting on it. Raph stared at his baby brother with hurt in his eyes as realization hit him. Donnie took a step to break them up but Mikey quickly turned to Donnie, cutting him off.

"And you're not any better than them" He started. "Or did you forget that time with the Kraang, you were tossing me around because you didn't want to be with me, all of you. You treat me like a screw up all the time. Every time. And you never apologize"

"You never apologized afterwards, and when I save you, you never thank me. And whenever I say something smart you are all surprised and you never listen to me. I was right about the centrifuge, I saved your lives in Dimension x, heck I was even right about the mom-thing, but did any of you say sorry? No!" He finished his ranting.

"Mikey, we're sorry, we really are. And we care about you okay? You're my only little brother, I love you" Donnie tried and took a hesitant step. Leo was just glaring towards Mikey, not happy with his comment about his leg and Raph just stood there with a twisted face, he was angry because he snapped at Leo, but he felt bad for his little brother.

He could tell Mikey was upset, and badly. His eyes were trembling and he was doing his best to hold back the tears. He was shaking like a leaf from the anger and his outburst. And he knew something had to be terribly wrong to send Mikey over the edge.

"Don't even try Donnie. I know you don't. You didn't care about me when we were all rescued from the mom-thing, you just crawled back into April's arms. Nobody cared if I was okay. And now you see me puking you finally notice." He whispered the last part. He hated how he felt, he didn't want to be angry but he couldn't help it.

"You have been sick after that?" Donnie whispered with hurt in his voice, he never realized that something was wrong with his little brother.

"I was there longer than you Donnie, she even used my body, don't you think that affected me somehow!" He said, raising his voice again. "You don't care, I hate all of you!" Mikey screamed. Donnie wanted to open his mouth again but Leo stopped him by putting his hand in the air.

"Go to your room Michelangelo" He said and glared towards Mikey. Mikey stopped trembling and his face drained with all the color he had.

"What..?" Mikey whispered, suddenly all anger had subsided. Leo had never bossed him around like this, had never glared to him.

"I said go to your room Michelangelo" Leo repeated. Mikey winced slightly, hearing his full name. It wasn't usual Leo called any of them by their full name. Sensei did it often, but they hardly did it, it was always Mikey, or Mike. Never Michelangelo.

"You're not my dad" Mikey whispered as tears made their way down his cheeks. Leo narrowed his eyes and shifted slightly on the crutch.

"Because he's dead Mikey, he will never come back and I'm the oldest, now go to your room" Leo said in his leader tone, pointing towards the stairs. Mikey bit his lip again and ran, pushing Donnie out of the way. Ignoring his other brothers calling for him he stormed outside, tears streaming down his face.

"Fine" He sobbed and bit his lip again. "If they don't care, I'm out" He said and ran into the forest. The wind was roaring slightly and Mikey shivered slightly at the dark but pushed it aside and just ran ahead, leaving the farm house behind.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Napoleon" Mikey grinned and watched as his new found friend sat down next to him on the branch of the giant tree. He could hear the different mutated frogs around him croaking but it felt nice to heart hem around him, he didn't like the silence very much.

"Hey Mikey, what's up?" Napoleon asked when he saw how his friend was acting. The last day had been great, he had finally found someone like him and he really liked Mikey. They had had so much fun together, Mikey had showed him new ninja tricks and they had fun with each other. Just goofing off slightly.

"Everything" Mikey sighed and leaned back, looking up to the tree, watching as all the frogs were running around. "I don't know really, I guess I just miss New York" He admitted and watched towards his right, staring towards Napoleon.

"What is… New York?" The mutant frog asked after a while. Mikey gasped and said straight up.

"You never heard of New York before?" Mikey grinned and sat cross-legged on the tree. "It is the city I came from, me and my brothers had lived there with our father for 15 years. We fought the Kraang, and the purple dragons and other mutants. And there was this one man, the Shredder, who was our father's arch enemy and he had this foot legion army and we totally kicked his butt every time" Mikey exclaimed.

"So in this New York place, you guys beat whole legions of feet soldiers?" Napoleon asked, not really understanding everything that Mikey had said. Mikey chuckled slightly.

"Foot soldiers" Mikey corrected him and jumped up. "Raph, that's my brother, Raphael, he's all 'rawr' with his sai and my other brother Donnie hacks the bad guy's computers, he's smart like that. And Leo… he's our fearless leader." He said as his face flushed slightly, it hurt to talk about them.

"Dude, your brothers sound awesome" Napoleon pointed out. Mikey sighed and sat down.

"They are, they love me. At least they did before I yelled at them" Mikey said and looked down ashamed. Napoleon wanted to open his mouth to say something to his new friend when the horn was being blown, a sign for all frogs to meet Attila, the leader of the frogs. And even if Mikey was allowed to stay, he still wasn't a frog.

"I have to go Michelangelo" Napoleon said as he stood up, hesitating slightly. Mikey nodded and raised his fist, forcing a grin on his face. Napoleon seemed to buy it and smiled too, knocking his fist against Mikey's fist before taking off.

Mikey sighed and drew his legs up to his plastron, resting his head on top of his knees. The air was cold around him but he didn't care. Blindly he looked down towards the ground. It had all been so weird in the last 24 hours.

Just a day ago he was still watching television, and the next moment he was screaming towards his brothers. He closed his eyes slightly. He had no idea where it came from, he loved his brothers, he could never hate them. And still he said it. He said he hated them.

They loved him, he knew they did but right know he was sure they didn't. He screamed at them, said he hated them. He had insulted Leo badly. About his leg. Even when he knew how much Leo was affected by it. He knew his oldest brother wanted nothing more than to get better. Heal and get back to New York as soon as possible.

Take back the city again and cure everyone who was turned into a Kraang-like creature. Get Karai back and avenge the death of their father. He didn't know what he was thinking back then, he saw his father flushing away in the drain pipe, the blood dripping down his shoulder and blending in with his fur.

There was no way he would've survived that. And even then it hurt so much that Leo had said it. It felt like a knife had been jabbed in his heart. He didn't want his father to be dead, he couldn't live without him, nobody could. And the family was falling apart without him.

He could still recall the hurt look on Raph's face, after he made that remark about hitting him. Of course he hit him before, every time he would say something stupid or messed up Raph would hit him. But it wasn't right to yell at him like that.

And Donnie, he had tried so hard to talk to Mikey, trying to get him to understand, that they all loved him. And the only thing Mikey had done was yelling at him. Blowing him off and pointing out things he had done in the past. And the thing Mikey hated the most was the fact they were all true. Everything he had said was true.

He still remembered the feeling of being tossed around in the Kraang basis. Leo had paired him up with Donnie and his purple-banded turtle had just rejected him, pleading Leo to pair him up with someone else. And Raph did exactly the same, even Leo didn't want him. And of course nobody apologized for it.

They just shrugged it off like it was nothing, like nothing had happened, and of course he just brushed it off like always. He just laughed, pretending like nothing had happened, but it hurt. It hurt hearing his brothers thought about him that way.

But in a way he was used to it. They had always treated him like that, just brushing him off, or ignoring him. They never acknowledged him, and every time he said something smart they were surprised. Even when he dismantled the bomb, by yelling the right color, Donnie acted surprised that he was right about something for once.

Of course it was a mere guess, but of course Donnie had to act surprised like that. But he wasn't surprised by Donnie's reaction, they always acted like that.

Even when he saved his brothers from the giant mutant wasp they didn't thank him, instead Leo just chased him for destroying his comic book, they never thanked him for saving their shells. And the mom-thing was just the same thing. He told them there was something off, that something wasn't right. And of course nobody listened.

And it resulted in him being swallowed and his body being used to trick Donnie. His brothers had complained about being sick, but they never asked about him, even when they knew he was the first one to be swallowed, and Donnie knew that the mom-thing had used his body to transform.

And deep down he knew his brothers cared about him. Back in New York, when his father had been flushed, when he calmed down Raph. His red-banded turtle barely cried, and right then he did cry, right in his hold.

Or that time he was kidnapped by Bradford, his former 'friend', he still remembered how Raph had talked to him, trying to cheer him up. Or the numerous times Leo had saved his shell, or Donnie had calmed him down after a nightmare. He knew they cared, the problem was they never showed it. And he was sick of that.

He never wanted to run away, he loved his brothers, but he couldn't live in a place he wasn't appreciated. But he knew for sure, if he could turn back the time he would never say things like that again. He knew for sure he had hurt Leo badly with his comment, that he had shattered his bond with Donnie and he had blown Raph off by telling him to hit him.

He was just grateful he didn't pick on Casey and April, but he knew they must be hating him. He had insulted his brothers, and at the same time their friends. Casey's best friends, April's 'love'.

Mikey was snapped out of his thoughts when a voice yelled from up the tree. 'Let go of me creep!' Mikey's eyes widened and he jumped up. 'Silence human' he could hear Attila say.

"That sounded like… April" He mumbled to himself and jumped up to the platform. Four frogs were dragging his friends to some hand-made cages. Casey and April were thrown in and they were locked somehow.

"Help" April exclaimed as their cages were raised high above the air. Mikey ran towards them, pushing some frogs away who were standing around the cages, watching in amazement.

"Hey! What is this? What are you doing to my friends?" Mikey exclaimed and looked towards the frogs who captured April and Casey.

"Mikey what are you doing here?!" April screamed from up and looked towards the freckled turtle. Mikey could feel his color being drained as he saw the stares of Casey and April. He was always happy to see them, but right now he felt nervous watching their accused stares.


	3. Chapter 3

The silence was awful. Each of them had always prayed for a little silence, finally some peace to relax or just do nothing, but right now it was suffocating. They had searched everywhere in the woods but they could never find Mikey. At first they didn't even worry about him, Mikey had stormed off numerous times back in New York, needing some time alone, but once they noticed he wasn't back in the morning they started to worry.

TMNT

"Mikey, you awake?" Donnie whispered and knocked on the door a few times. He felt so bad for his little brother, he never noticed how bad Mikey was suffering. Too caught up in his own world to notice it. Too selfish to care about his only little brother.

"Mikey?" Donnie asked again when he noticed Mikey wasn't answering him. Carefully he pushed the door open and looked inside but Mikey wasn't there. His bed was empty, his t-phone thrown carelessly on the floor and the lights were still out. He had never gone back to his room last night.

Donnie could feel his knees buckle under him. He had really done it, he was really gone, and it was his fault. It was his fault he never noticed how bad his little brother was suffering, he should've noticed, and right now he was gone.

Slowly Donnie stepped into the room and looked around. He was so stupid. He had been in this room so many times but never he noticed how empty and cold it was in here. The walls were empty, the room was clean, the room wasn't Mikey's.

Back in New York his room had always been colorful and creative. Mikey was the most creative of them, he was an awesome writer and drawer, and his room was always filled with posters, drawings and lots of colors. But this room was just empty, and it made Donnie realize how much Mikey had changed over these three months, changes he didn't notice.

His eyes fell on his desk, a simple wooden desk, nothing special about it, but what caught his attention was the book that was on it. Donnie immediately recognized it as Mikey's diary.

Donnie shivered as he walked over to it, he knew Mikey had a diary, and he also knew how private such a thing was. It held all his thoughts and experiences, and Donnie knew he shouldn't be looking at it, but right now he had to.

Even touching the diary felt so wrong but he pushed it aside and opened the diary anyways. . His eyes landed on the top of the page, a date, 2 months after they arrived at the farm house. When Leo still wasn't awake. And before he even knew, he was reading it.

'I miss him, all of them. I miss Sensei but I just know he's still alive. I mean he was the best ninja in the world, I just can't believe Shredder would kill him, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Leo hasn't woken up too, I miss him too. Everything is just falling apart without him and Sensei.

Now sensei is gone we need a leader, or at least a father figure but we don't. Raph is only angry these days. In a way, he just trains every day, and when he doesn't train he is in the bathroom, watching over Leo.

Donnie isn't any better though. He is in the barn every day, trying to create a medicine for Leo, if he will ever wake up. He never has time for the rest of us, and just shuts me out every time I try to say something, or ask him to do something fun, he's always busy.

Even Casey and April aren't the same, they are all falling apart, I feel it, and there is nothing I can do. There is nothing I can do to make them happy, or believe that everything will be alright, I just can't, i mean, I can't even lie to myself, so how could I lie to them?'

Donnie squeezed his eyes shut as the tears began to roll down his face. Only reading this small part of the diary made him realize how awful he had been these last months. How alone Mikey must've felt, being pushed away by them, and having to grief over father and Leo alone.

'I don't know how long I will be able to continue like this, I smile every day but it gets harder and harder every day. It just can't get over this empty feeling. It feels so wrong not having Leo around, I miss him commanding us and stuff, and I miss father. I miss his voice, his long trainings, I even miss the punishments.

I just wish he was here again, alive. He would know what to do. My brothers just don't care, they are too caught up in their own world to notice me. I don't want to be a liability so I just smile, but the nightmares stay. Every night the same horrific one.

I can see father lying dead at my feet, and I re-live Leo's wounds every night. It's horrible. I was so relieved when Leo was finally healed, although he is still unconscious but it was bad.

Leo's shell was even cracked, something that had only happened once before, with Raph. Sure we had some injuries with our shells, like that time Tiger Claw beat me, but never a cracked shell. Which is very dangerous for us since our spine is connected to our shell.

But at nights I see him every time, every time I realize how bad he was back then. When he was attacked by the Shredder. His skin covered with cuts, bruises and blood and barely breathing. It is horrible, every night I wake up screaming, trashing, but no one notices.

I just hope Leo will wake up soon and we can go back to New York soon, avenge father and stop the Kraang and the Shredder. I just want my normal life back. Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers, and I would do anything for them, I just want them to feel the same about me.

Donnie closed the diary, it hurt to read it, to read about everything Mikey had been through. It only reminded him how bad they messed up. He couldn't stand reading it. He covered his face in his hands and allowed the tears to flow freely.

TMNT

"Hey Raph" Leo mumbled as he walked into the kitchen, walking over to the fridge to get some drinks. Raph looked up from his breakfast and frowned, looking over to Leo. He wasn't wearing his crutch anymore, ever since he had woken up he had problems with his knee, but right know that seemed to be gone.

"Where's yer crutch?" Raph asked as he took another bite of his breakfast. Leo looked towards Raph and then down to his leg, wiggling it slightly. He winced slightly, it was still sore but it didn't hurt anymore, not like it used to do.

"It doesn't hurt that much anymore" Leo whispered as he turned around ashamed. "I guess Mikey was right after all" he sighed after a short silence and bowed his head. Guilt flowing through him, his little brother. He was right after all, he was a horrible leader.

"We messed up didn't we?" Raph sighed and bowed his head too, picking his food slightly. Leo nodded and walked over to the table Raph was sitting at, taking a seat too and resting his head on his hands. Leo opened his mouth slightly, trying to find the right words.

"I guess we really did" Leo admitted and gritted his teeth. "I yelled at him Raph, how will he ever forgive me? I blew him off because Sensei is dead" Leo said ashamed and wiped away a single tear. He could still recall the tears that lingered in Mikey's eyes when he told him about father, the pain that was hidden in the blue orbs.

"He will Leo, you know how that kid is, besides I blew him off too" Raph said and awkwardly patted Leo's shoulder. The blue banded leader sighed and looked up to Raph. No matter how convincing Raph could be, he didn't believe him. He messed up, all of them these last three months, and the worst thing was, they didn't notice.

"That's the point Raph, I know how he is, and you know too. He has always been the most sensitive out of us. We all know how affected he can be with something, just imagine how much we hurt him by yelling at him" Leo spat back and bowed his head again. He didn't mean to snap at Raph, he was just so angry with himself, for yelling at Mikey like that.

"But we also know how easily he can forgive us, he isn't the one to hold a grudge for very long, he will come around" Raph said, more trying to convince himself than Leo, and grimaced when he saw Leo's shoulders beginning to shake. "Hey, don't cry fearless" Raph said and placed his hand on Leo's shoulder again.

"You know he won't, you saw the look in his eyes when I mentioned dad, you and I both know how much he looked up to him, we all did but he did it the most, and I basically told him father was dead." Came the muffled reply of Leo as his shoulders kept shaking.

"Don't cry Leo, okay?" Raph sighed, he wasn't good with calming someone down, he wasn't a very talkative person, never was. He never liked to talk or hug and right now he didn't know what to do. "Look, I'm goin' ta look where Donnie is with Mikey and after that we'll talk okay?"

Without waiting Raph stood up and left the kitchen, going up the staircase, hopefully Mikey wasn't mad at them for long, they messed up, he knew that. Raph just hoped Mikey wouldn't hold a grudge forever and they could make up to him.

"Yo Don, what's taking ya so long?" Raph exclaimed as he pushed open the door, only to stop right in his tracks. Donnie was sitting behind Mikey's desk, his face buried in his hands and obviously crying. The loud sobs escaping Donnie's throat could even be heard outside the room.

"Donnie, what's wrong? Where's Mikey?" Raph whispered, fear building up inside of him, seeing the empty bed of his little brother. It took a few seconds for Donnie to turn around. His eyes were blood-red and swollen, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"H-He's g-gone" Donnie sobbed and before he even knew Raph had wrapped his arms around him, pressing him close to his own body. "I-I did s-something horrible R-Raph. I-I..." He wanted to continue but was cut off by Raph.

"What do ya mean 'gone'?" Raph grimaced and stared Donnie in the eyes. Donnie just shook his head and closed his eyes, more tears streaming down his cheeks. "Donnie, where's Mikey?" Raph asked again, more persistent this time, it couldn't be right? He couldn't have done that.

"I-I think h-he ran... away" Donnie sobbed and buried his face in Raph's hold. "I'm s-so sorry, I d-didn't mean to" He sobbed, more speaking towards Mikey than to Raph. And when those words left Donnie's mouth it felt like everything had stopped around him.

Raph just stared wide-eyed. It felt like a knife had been jabbed through his heart. His little brother, running away. Out of everything that could happen, Mikey would never walk away, never in his life. But he did, and it was their fault.

"We're gonna find him, but we gotta go now" Raph said and helped Donnie with standing up. Donnie sniffled slightly and wiped his tears away. "We will find him Don" Raph assured him for the last time and walked out of Mikey's empty room. He would find his little brother, if it will be the last thing he'd do.

TMNT

One day had passed since Mikey had run away, since they had yelled at him. They had searched all day for him but in vain, he was nowhere. They went back once it turned dark to get flashlights so they could navigate better but April and Donnie stayed home.

More because Leo ordered them to, someone had to be home if Mikey would return himself and Leo, Casey and Raph went into the woods again. But how optimistic they could be sometimes, they knew the changes of him returning after a day was small, Mikey was gone and it was their fault.

"Where do you think he is?" April whispered and looked up to Donnie. The soup beneath her was almost boiling but she paid no attention to it, the only thing she saw was the defeated look on Donnie's face, his dried tears lingering on his cheeks.

"I have no idea" Donnie said and lowed the plates on the table, bowing his head again. "I just d-don't know" He whispered and quickly wiped away some new tears. He felt numb, empty inside without Mikey around him.

Sure, he had been without Mikey numerous times, when they went on a patrol and had to team up for example, but this time it felt different. Mikey wasn't just gone for a few hours, or patrolling with Leo or Raph, no, he was really gone this time, he had run away, because of them.

"We will find him, Leo, Casey and Raph are looking for him right now, I'm sure they will find him." April whispered and wrapped her arms around Donnie, holding him close to her own body. Donnie said nothing and just allowed April to comfort him.

"I just can't believe we didn't notice how he was feeling, he felt so lonely and all we did was ignore him" Donnie whispered in April's hold. April nodded, Donnie had told her everything about the diary. The red-haired teen could feel the tears staining her shirt but she didn't care.

"Neither of us did Donnie, you just have to talk to him once he's back" April said and rubbed Donnie's shell slightly. She could still recall everything Donnie had told her, how Mikey had felt these last 3 months, about his nightmares, and about sensei.

"If he ever comes back" Donnie mutters and sniffled slightly. April frowned and pulled out of the hug, staring Donnie in the eyes. They were still swollen but it was less than in the morning. Small tears were lingering in his eyes, waiting to fall, but April quickly wiped them away.

"They will find him Donnie, I'm sure they..." April started but was caught off when the door slammed shut and 3 figures came running in. April and Donnie immediately jumped up and ran towards the hall, only to see Leo, Raph and Casey panting and trying to catch their breaths.

"What happened?!" April yelled distressed and ran over to her friends. Casey was leaning against the door with a hand on his chest while Leo was leaning on Raph, both trying to catch their breaths. A few small scrapes and some dirt covering their skins.

"They... were coming... for Casey and you" Leo panted and looked up to April. "They wanted to 'free' us ... from the humans.. and we told them we ...were friends with you.. and they attacked us too" He practically hiccupped, trying to get a normal sentence out.

April frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Who are 'they'?" She asked as she steadied Casey, who was swaying slightly on his feet. There was a loud bang and seconds after the door was kicked in and mutant frogs stormed inside.

"These guys" Raph grunted and grabbed his sais. "I was tired of waiting anyways" He joked and jumped on top of the first mutant frog, kicking him away. More frogs entered and they soon engulfed Raph, making him unable to fight.

"Raph!" Donnie yelled when the frogs began to kick the red-banded turtle and wanted to jump in but was soon hit on his shell by one of the other frogs. "No you don't!" He screamed and hit the mutant with his bo-staff only to be jumped by two more frogs. He grunted as the frogs began to kick him too.

"Get away from him!" April yelled and jumped on top of the frog, kicking and punching him, trying to help Donnie but she was quickly over-powered and dragged out of the house. The frogs weren't skilled, nor fast but they were with more and the turtles were sound outnumbered and down on the ground, helplessly watching April and Casey getting dragged away.


	4. Chapter 4

"Well…" Mikey started as he switched his gaze between the two humans, who were now high up in the sky, locked up and being watched by the whole frog 'army'. He could feel a single droplet trailing along his temple as he watched his friends, the ones he left.

"Friends?! You said they humans were horrible to you, you escaped" Attila pointed out and narrowed his eyes dangerously. Mikey whipped his head around laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.

"Well … that's not exactly what I meant" Mikey chuckled nervously and tabbed his fingers slightly, trying to find a way out of it, but Attila clearly wasn't happy with it.

"Wait, ya escaped?!" Casey screamed from his cage and took off his mask, narrowing his eyes. "What tha hell is he talkin' about?" There was anger in his voice, but at the same time there wasn't any.

And instead of the angry Casey Jones they all knew, there was a small and vulnerable guy who dearly missed his little sister and father. The boy who would do anything to protect his new mutant family, and would even sacrifice himself for them.

"This human-lover lied to become accepted by us!" Genghis growled and pointed his axe at the freckled turtle. Mikey cringed slightly and took a step back, searching for a way out. Attila's eyes were narrowed as he took another slurp from the flies he had stacked.

"Live with humans" He started and took the straw out of his mouth. "Suffer with humans" he finished and gave short nod towards his fellow mutants. Before Mikey could object he felt two strong arms wrap around his biceps, dragging him along.

"Hey! Let me go!" He screamed, trying to free himself but his attempts were in vain as he was dragged towards another cage. One of the frogs gave him a hard punch in his plastron and he grunted as his shell collided with the bars, sinking to the to the ground, wincing because of his plastron.

"No, he's my friend, you can't!" Napoleon called out from beneath him but Attila wasn't changing his mind anytime soon and just signed for his frog soldiers to hold him too. Genghis snorted and walked over to Napoleon.

"That turtle is a traitor, which means you are a traitor too! Bring him to the other side" Genghis ordered and send Mikey a last look before walking behind the two soldiers, to the other side of the tree. Napoleon was struggling but soon gave up as he figured it wouldn't make a difference.

"What are we going to do with these humans and the traitor?" Rasputin asked, stroking his long frills. Attila took the straw out of his mouth, glancing over to the smart frog on his right.

"Leave them, I will deal with them later" Attila just snorted before putting the straw in his mouth again, slurping some more flies. Quickly glancing over to Mikey, who just shrank back into his cage slightly, his hand still on his plastron.

"Mikey, you okay?" April whispered when she noticed Mikey holding his plastron the whole time. Mikey blinked a few times before looking up to April, rubbing his plastron softly. April's eyes widened when she saw the bruise already forming on Mikey's plastron.

"Did they hit you that hard?" She exclaimed and stood up, gripping the bars and trying to look as closely as she could. Mikey removed his hand from his plastron, indeed looking down at a forming bruise. He poked it lightly, hissing at the contact.

"It isn't that bad, it's just throbbing" Mikey shrugged and leaned his head back, resting against the wooden bars. April was still watching him closely, just as Casey. After a few seconds Mikey noticed the stares he was getting and frowned slightly. But before he could ask anything April had opened her mouth already.

"Where have you been, we've been looking for you everywhere?" April whispered and looked down quickly before looking towards Mikey again. The freckled turtle sighed and drew his legs up to his plastron, resting his chin on his knees.

"Why would you guys even care" Mikey sighed, more as a statement than a question. "You guys are better off without me" Mikey admitted. April was slightly taken back by Mikey's confession. Mikey seemed to hurt, even saying those small words.

"Oh Mikey.." April whispered which caught Mikey's attention. His baby blue eyes locked into April's eyes, revealing the tears lingering into his blue orbs. "Never say that, we do need you, we've been worried sick about you"

"Yea man, they are all really sorry for what they did" Casey cut in. "Or for what they didn't do" Casey frowned and rubbed his head sheepishly. Mikey grinned slightly and looked down again.

"You really searched for me?" Mikey whispered after a few silent seconds and watched towards his human friends. "You mean Raph and Donnie too? " he added, slightly hesitant. April's face flushed slightly, Mikey was truly scared for her answer.

He was really scared that his brothers hated him, that they didn't want him, and that saddened April greatly. And even Casey noticed Mikey's behavior towards his brothers, and knew that Mikey was the one that suffered the most, emotionally spoken.

"Everyone Mikey, even Leo. We've searched the whole forest" April assured Mikey. "Why are you here anyways?" April asked after a few seconds. But before Mikey could answer April a loud crack echoed through the air, followed by a short yelp, which sounded awfully like Donnie.

Both the humans and Mikey jumped up to look down, and it really was Donnie, laying on top of one of the mutant frogs, a blush spreading across his cheeks, and he chuckled slightly.

"…. Oops… awkward.." He grinned and turned around as Genghis landed behind him, drawing his axe and pointing it towards him.

"Destroy him!" He yelled and Donnie gulped but before they could land a single blow on him Raph and Leo jumped out of the sky. Easily kicking the frogs away from him.

"Eat it froggie!" Raph yelled as he grabbed his sais and kicked some more frogs away from Donnie. The purple banded turtle took his own weapon and began charging in on the frogs too, so Raph wouldn't have to protect all the time.

Mikey's eyes widened as he gripped the bars of the cage, they really came, his brothers really came! Maybe they really cared about him after all but at the same time he feared them. He feared for their reaction, they came but he still snapped at them, hurt them.

And because of his stupid actions, because he ran away, and he told the frogs about April and Casey and the farmhouse, his brothers had to rescue them. April and Casey were captured by the frogs, including him. And he would never be able to forgive himself if his brothers would get hurt in any way.

Raph growled and raised his sais. He took a few steps backwards as a frog charged at him. With a loud thud it landed on top of him, giving him a hard kick. Raph groaned slightly before kicking the frog over the edge.

"Raph look out!" Mikey screamed from above when another frog came towards him. Luckily Raph saw it in time and ducked, causing the frog to tumble over the edge too. But he wasn't fast enough when another frog came towards him and knocked him over the edge too.

Raph roared and gripped the edge with a single hand, while the other one was held down by the mutant frog. Mikey watched in horror as his older brother was hanging from the edge, there was no way he would survive if he would fall.

"Get lost!" Raph roared and kicked the mutant frog, with such force that he released him. Quickly Raph climbed on top of the surface again, looking over the edge. Raph had expected the three mutants to fall down but his eyes widened when he saw them extending their tongue.

Mikey wanted to scream, make Raph move faster but he found himself frozen when the frogs landed on top of Raph, knocking him backwards, hard. Donnie cried out when Raph hit his shell and landed on top of him.

Mikey gritted his teeth, we wanted to go down there, he wanted to help his brothers. It was his fault after all, if he hadn't snapped, if he wouldn't have run away. They wouldn't be in the mess, and right now he couldn't do anything.

"A little help guys?" Donnie cried out and charged in on the frogs that were surrounding him, only to be knocked down right away. However Raph was busy himself and Leo was currently being chased by 3 other frogs.

Leo gritted his teeth and jumped towards another branch, throwing three smoke bombs in their direction. The smoke bombs hit them in the face and Leo almost wanted to cheer but was stopped when another frog came swinging at him.

He grunted as the frog collided with him, taking him down all the way to the ground. He was knocked backwards and another frog grabbed him by the shoulders, tackling him mid-air.

"Oh no you don't!" Leo gritted and turned around, kicking him into the floor. Leo's eyes widened when he landed on his injured knee and he gasping, grabbing his knee. Leo blinked a few times, looking where he was, only to realize he was at the other side of the tree.

"Mikey!" Napoleon called out when he saw the turtle landing in front of him, thinking it was Mikey. He was tied up, with his hands behind him and connected to a pole. Leo shivered slightly and stood on his legs again, his knee was still a bit sore but he could manage.

"It's not, I'm his brother" Leo explained and frowned slightly. "Why are you all tied up? And how do you know his name?" Leo asked as he took one step closer to the mutant frog. He knew he couldn't stay her too long, he had to help his brothers but he was just too curious.

"I met him in the forest last night, we became friends" Napoleon hastily explained but a loud cry snapped them out of their thoughts. "Quick, untie me, I gotta help my friend" Napoleon pushed and much to his delight Leo ran over to him.

"Don't make me regret this" Leo mumbled through his teeth as he untangled the rope around his wrist. The fact that an ally of the frogs had been tied up worried him, but that was something he couldn't worry about now. It took Leo a few moments but eventually the mutant frog was free, rubbing his wrist slightly.

"You won't" Napoleon just called out before he followed Leo towards the front of the tree again. Immediately they were engulfed by mutant frogs laying all around them, either unconscious or fighting Donnie and Raph.

Another cry was heard and Leo's head snapped up, it was Donnie. Leo narrowed his eyes and charged in on the frogs, kicking them away as quickly as he could. Donnie was down on the ground, holding his left arm with a grimace of pain.

"Donnie what happened?!" Leo cried out as he took Donnie's arm, paying attention to the frogs around him. Donnie's arm was a nasty shade of blue and red, and the swelling was already kicking in. Donnie grunted and folded his hand around the wound.

"A frog hit me, I'll be fine" Donnie groaned and rubbed his arm slightly. It wasn't that bad but it hurt like shell, and there was no way he could use it anymore. Leo narrowed his eyes in determination and kicked some more frogs away.

"Stay behind me!" Leo called out and drew his katana's again. He failed to protect a little brother once, but he wouldn't fail again. And he would made sure Donnie would come out of her uninjured, apart from the wound on his arm.

TMNT

High above him were still the three cages, containing his friend and the two humans. Maybe they weren't bad, Mikey was the only friend he had ever made, and he liked these humans. Napoleon sighed and looked back once again, no Attila was wrong, these humans never caused trouble, it was him who did.

"Sometimes a frog's gotta do, what a frog's gotta do" Napoleon half grinned and jumped high up, landing perfectly on Mikey's cage. Mikey stumbled backwards slightly and grinned, welcoming his mutant friend.

"Sweet jump Napoleon" Mikey grinned, trying to find his balance in the swinging cage. Napoleon grinned back and opened the cage hastily.

"Thanks Mikey" Napoleon exclaimed and gave his turtle friend a high-five. "Go help your brothers, I'll save these humans" He offered and gave Mikey a smile before jumping towards April's cage. Mikey grinned and jumped down, taking out his nun-chucks in the process.

Down below Raph was still fighting the frogs. His sais were drawn as he kicked another frog down the tree, who also came right up again, using his tongue as some sort of rope. Raph wanted to strike again when a tongue wrapped around his wrist, and soon his other wrist was captured too. Making him unable to move

"Get off of me punks!" He screamed and tried to break free but his attempts were in vain. He stared with wide eyes as Genghis came up to him with his axe in his hand, his eyes narrowed with determination.

"Goodbye traitor" He yelled and charged in on the restrained turtle. Raph screamed, desperately trying to break free but it was no use. He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow but it never came. Instead he heard the voice of his baby brother.

"Get away from my brother!" Never in his life he had been more happy to hear his little brother. Raph snapped his eyes open, wanting to praise Mikey or something but was cut off when Genghis charged in again, slamming the end of his axe hard into Mikey's already wounded plastron.

"Mikey!" Raph yelled as his little brother fell to the ground. Grasping for air. Genghis growled and picked Mikey up by his bandana tails, swinging him backwards, right into the candle. Mikey groaned slightly and rubbed his head. Blinking a few times.

"Guys!" He yelled distressed and he jumped up, watching the candle slowly spreading the fire in front of him. He wanted to run, run to safety but once his left foot came in contact with the ground he cried out and fell to the ground again.

His ankle was swollen and bruises were already forming. Mikey gritted his teeth and tried to stand again, he had to get out of here, before the fire would reach him too, but only putting the slightest pressure on his foot made him realize, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Raph's eyes were wide as he looked around the tree. Everything was lightened up, the orange flames licking the wood, burning it down. Everyone was screaming around of him, trying their hardest to get to safety.

"Raph!" He could hear Casey yell. He whipped his head around, his eyes still wide with fear as he stared at his human friend. "We have to get out of here, NOW!" Casey said and signed for him to come towards him.

Raph shook his head hysterically, he had to get Mikey. He wasn't anywhere to be seen, he had to save his baby brother, he couldn't fail him again. He looked around, trying to see a flash of orange between all the frogs who were finding safer ground, but he found none.

"Raph!" April yelled, and got ready to jump off the blue frog, who was now beneath her and Casey, but Raph stopped her. He had to save Mikey, it was his fault he got thrown into the tree, and he would save him.

"No, I ain't going without Mikey!" He yelled, He could the heat approaching him, and he knew if he wanted to rescue Mikey, he had to be fast. Raph's comment stopped April and Casey, fear spreading along their eyes too.

"Mikey's missing?!" April cried out and really jumped from the unconscious frog. She ran towards the edge, looking down. She could see all the frogs, watching the burning tree. She could see flashes of purple and blue, but nowhere she could see orange.

"April" A voice yelled, Raph. A hand was placed on her shoulder and pulled her up. "Go!" Raph said firmly, narrowing her eyes. April sighed but nodded quickly, taking the hand of her shoulder and running back to Casey, jumping on Attila's back again.

"Be careful Raph please" April pleaded as Casey began to lower the platform. Raph gritted his teeth and stared at the approaching flames, Mikey had to be in there, somewhere. He pushed away the thoughts and began to look for a way through the flames, he knew it was a big risk, but he was willing to do it for his little brother.

"Mikey! Are ya there?" Raph screamed towards the flames. There was a short silence and Raph was just ready to shout again when a weak cough came from the flames, followed by a wheezing sound, that sounded a lot like his baby brother.

"Hold on Bro!" Raph screamed as fear ripped through him. His baby bro, in the middle of the fire. And he was coughing, which was never a good sign. The flames were spreading more and more and Raph knew he had to be quick.

He gritted his teeth and made his decision within seconds. And without thinking he jumped right through the flames. He could feel them brushing against his body, licking against his arms but the speed made sure the flames couldn't get a hold of him.

He could smell the slight burns appearing on his flesh but he ignored them, until he was out of the flames. He immediately recognized it as the empty space in the tree, were Rasputin was the whole time. And right now a small turtle was in his place.

He was curled up in a ball. Tears streaming down his face as coughs racked through his body. The fire hadn't reached this part yet but the smoke had, and it was affecting the orange banded turtle quickly. Raph's stomach twisted as he ran towards his baby brother, kneeling next to him.

"Mikey" He said firmly but couldn't contain a shiver. Mikey immediately whipped his head around and burst into more tears, from joy this time. But before he could say anything Raph had opened his mouth already. "No time, we gotta get outta here" He said firmly.

Mikey coughed weakly but nodded, allowing Raph to pick him up. Raph growled when he saw the swollen ankle of his little brother and the bruise forming on his plastron, when Mikey saved his sorry butt.

"Hold your breath" Raph insisted as he did the same. Luckily Mikey obeyed and shut his mouth, denying any oxygen, or in their case smoke, to enter his lungs. Raph could feel his heart beating when he looked at the flames again, they were bigger, higher and more heat was coming from them.

There was no way through. He turned around, the heat connecting with his shell, and he began to run. The only way that was still free, along the tree. Mikey moaned in his hold, coughing despite trying to suppress it.

"Hold on little bro" Raph tried to encourage him. The small burn wounds that were already on his body were only starting to worsen when he dashed through the fire again but he ignored it, it was his choice to go through them, and he didn't regret them, he had to save Mikey.

Raph came to abrupt stop when he reached an opening in the tree, it was use for the lift but the thing was, the lift was all the way down. Raph whipped his head around, wide eyes when he saw the flames coming near him.

He switched on his feet slightly, debating what to do, but there was no other way than to go down. He was trapped by the flames, that were only nearing him, every second more. He brought Mikey closer to his plastron.

"Hold on to me" He commended and awkwardly brought Mikey to his back. Mikey wrapped his arms around Raph's neck, wincing as his sore plastron was pressed against Raph's hard shell but he ignored it. Raph hated putting pressure on Mikey's plastron, but it was the only way.

"Hold on" He said again and then jumped, grabbing the cable, connecting with the lift, tightly. He roared through his teeth as his palms began to protest, burning as he slit down. But feeling the weight pressing down on his shell he knew he couldn't give up, not now.

There was a loud explosion from up the tree before his feet connected with the cold grass beneath him. He fell to the ground, panting and trying to catch his breath. Coughing up the smoke he had inhaled. Mikey fell from his shell, rolling over to his own shell.

"T-thanks for saving me Raph" Mikey panted as he struggled on his feet. His skin was in some places a light shade of red but was mostly covered with black ashes. His plastron was already starting to bruise and his ankle was swollen, and apart from a few scrapes and cuts he was okay.

Raph was supporting his body with his underarms, gritting his teeth as he looked at his hands, the way down wasn't enough to brake the skin, but his hands were now covered with some blisters and were red and throbbing.

"Anytime little bro, ya rescued me first remember?" Raph said and flashed a grin, but that immediately dissolved when he looked at his little brother, he was struggling on his feet, which failed every time due to his ankle.

"Let me take a look at it" Raph said and pushed Mikey down, ignoring the burning feeling it caused himself. Mikey sighed and allowed himself to be pushed down, extended his leg so Raph could look at it. Raph sat down himself and carefully took the ankle.

"Mikey" He started as he carefully began to feel the ankle, earning a hiss from Mikey. "Look am sorry for hurtin' ya back in ta farmhouse…." Raph continued and bit his lip slightly, he had never been good with words.

"All forgiven, it's good, I shouldn't have yelled in the first place " Mikey cut in, shrugging slightly. Raph frowned slightly when he saw Mikey smiling, it wasn't convincing, far from it, and he could see the hurt Mikey was desperately trying to conceal, but he wouldn't bring it up now, first they had to get back to the farmhouse.

"I don't think it's broken" Raph stated after a few more touches and lowered his ankle to the ground. "Do ya think ya can limp?" Raph asked as he stood up, holding out a hand for his little brother. Mikey snickered and grabbed Raph's hand, standing up.

Raph threw Mikey's right arm around his shoulder and steadied him. How much he wanted to carry Mikey towards the farmhouse, he couldn't. He could hear his own breath wheezing and rasping. The burn wounds throbbing on his flesh. And his palms burning, already hurting from simply holding Mikey's hand.

"Raph, I'm sorry for running away, and causing all of this" Mikey whispered when he started limping, heavily leaning on his older brother. Raph snorted and wrapped his arm around Mikey's shell, and under his left armpit.

"That was pretty stupid yes" Raph huffed but Mikey immediately detected the laugh in Raph's voice and snickered slightly. "But don't ever to that again, I love you bro" The last sentence came out in a whisper, he normally wouldn't say something like that but he had no regrets as Mikey leaned his head against him.

"I love you too bro" Mikey sighed, continuing to limp. They followed the tree, so they would eventually re-unite with the rest of the family, and the frogs. Raph could hear Mikey panting near him, and wheezing like he was, he had to be fast.

Mikey mostly wasn't in any danger or something but he would rather be safe than sorry. "Raph" Mikey rasped next to him, Raph was immediately alarmed but relaxed when he saw the figures Mikey was pointing at.

A grin spread among Raph's face but left as he saw the depressed looks on Donnie's and Leo's faces. And even the frogs seemed to be sorry for some reason. They had their back towards them, some staring at the burning tree, others at the ground.

"Why the depressed looks?" Raph called out as he continued to drag Mikey along. Donnie and Leo immediately shot up and started crying when they saw Raph and Mikey. Running towards them. And even the frogs seemed relieved.

"Oh shell, I thought you guys didn't make it!" Leo cried and wrapped his arms around both turtles, Donnie joining them soon, being careful with his sore arm. "Don't ever scare me like that" Leo whispered and pulled out of the hug.

"Don't worry, we won't" Mikey chuckled and he playfully pushed his older brother away with his fee hand, while the other one was still wrapped around Raph's neck.

"Michelangelo" Napoleon said as he walked over to his friend. "You, are one brave warrior" He grinned and held up his hand for a high five. Mikey grinned too and pressed his hand against Napoleon's hand.

"The second best warrior remember?" He joked but frowned after looking at the tree. "So, were are you going now?" Mikey asked concerned. His new friend just lost his home and probably had nowhere to go but Napoleon wasn't worrying.

"Don't worry, we have like 20 thousand cousins in Louisiana." Napoleon shrugged as he reached for his pocket. "Here, I caught you some delicious flies" He said and offered Mikey the flies. Mikey flashed a grin and put the flies in his belt, and at the same time looking for the pizza he carried along.

"Here you go Napoleon" Mikey offered and smiled as his mutant friend eagerly ate the pizza. "Well I guess I won't see you again" Mikey said as Napoleon finished the pizza. He could feel Raph pulling his closer to him, to comfort him, but he kept staring at Napoleon.

"Don't worry Michelangelo, we will always be friends" Napoleon exclaimed and held up his hand again. Mikey chuckled and shook his head slightly.

"I guess we will" Mikey chuckled and gave another high five before Napoleon turned towards the rest of the frogs. He looked towards Mikey, and his family, again and began to wave, a smile on his face. Mikey grinned and began to wave too.

"Bye Michelangelo, Booyerkasta!" Napoleon said and ran behind the rest of the frogs, who were already walking away. Mikey chuckled at the sight of his friend running behind the rest of the mutant frogs and sighed.

"It's Booyakasha" He grinned as Napoleon continued to walk off. Leo walked over to his left side, wrapping his own arm underneath Mikey's armpit, taking him over from Raph.

Raph groaned slightly, as he rubbed his palms slightly. Leo was now carrying Mikey, so he wouldn't have to limp the whole way home. The freckled turtle had his head turned away, ignoring Raph. And only seeing the distant look in his brother's eyes, he knew they had a lot to talk about once they got home.


	6. Chapter 6

They were mostly quiet on their way home, nobody saying anything as they walked through the woods. Mikey was still held by Leo, snuggled close to his plastron and totally exhausted from everything that had happened but not sleeping yet.

His eyes were closed, face buried in the plastron of his older brother but he couldn't sleep. His stomach kept making turns and making him sick, preventing him from sleeping. They had saved him, risked their lives because of him. And that was something he couldn't get over

He ran away over a stupid argument, he couldn't keep his mouth shut and ran off like a coward, and of course his brothers had to save him, again. So he just pretended to be asleep, maybe they would forget all about it.

But somehow he knew that wasn't going to work, not this time. Sure he had some arguments in the past, but they were never that bad. They were never that bad that it resulted in him screaming, or even running away.

Sure he had yelled in the past, even swore sometimes but never he had screamed because of an argument, said mean things to his brothers to hurt them, and he knew he did, he snapped at them, pointed out all their weak sides, and used it in a pointless argument.

Which did nothing good, he ran away and they had to save him again, just like they had to do in New York. And his brothers got hurt because of him.

"Finally" Casey huffed after a long silence. Mikey twisted in Leo's hold, looking in front of him, seeing the farmhouse slowly approaching, almost home. He could feel Leo nudging him slightly but he just ignored it.

He knew what Leo was doing, he was babying him again. Back in New York he would've loved it, getting all this attention, but right now it only reminded him how much he screwed up, causing all of this.

"I'll get the first aid kit" April announced as they entered the farmhouse, stepping over the mess the fight with the frogs had left. Mikey could feel Leo nodding as his older brother walked towards the living room, setting him on the couch.

"You okay otouto?" Leo whispered as he crouched down, getting on the same level as Mikey. Mikey was now lying flat on his shell, slightly elevated, with his ankle stretched out. Leo reached out for Mikey's hand, slowly stroking it.

"I'm okay, just sore" Mikey said, faking a big grin like usual. Leo's face flushed slightly, hurt and confusion washing over his face.

"And the argument?" Leo questioned, narrowing his eyes slightly, he wasn't coming out of this one that easily, not this time. Mikey laughed nervously, remembering the argument again, everything he had said floating through his head again.

"It's good" Mikey brushed off, pushing himself a bit more into a sitting position but still half-lying on the couch. "Let's just forget about it" Mikey shrugged, hoping Leo would buy it, but seeing the frown on his leader's face made him regret that thought.

"Yer not getting off that easily" Raph grunted, sitting down on the edge of the couch, on Mikey's head side. His skin was still blistered and red in some parts and his hands were still full of red and sore spots.

"I'm serious Raph, just forget it" Mikey said, slightly harsher than he wanted it to be. He really didn't want to talk about what happened. Raph frowned slightly, not expecting that comment from his little brother.

"Give him some space guys" April hushed as she walked into the living room, the first-aid kit with her. Leo sighed but moved way when April approached him and Mikey. "Let me look at your plastron first" April practically coed and carefully removed Mikey's hand from his plastron.

"Easy" Mikey hissed as April's fingers came in contact with the bruised plastron. April chuckled slightly and reached for the medical kid, taking out some kind of white cream. "Where's Don?" Mikey whispered, stiffening another hiss as April carefully applied it across his plastron.

"Right here, what's wrong?" Donnie said, sitting down in the chair next to the couch, watching Mikey closely. April laughed and closed the lid, putting the cream back into the medical kid and looked over to Donnie.

"Relax genius, I got this" April chuckled, earning a blush from him. "Besides, you should be resting with your arm, so no moving around" April said, turning back to Mikey again. "So Leo, care to help me?" April asked, glancing over to Leo.

"Sure" Leo said, walking over to the couch. "What do I do?" He asked, kneeling down next to Mikey. April looked inside of the bag, pulling out a roll of bandages and something to secure it with.

"You have to lift him up so I can wrap this around his torso" April said, unwrapping the roll of bandages so she could wrap it around his torso afterwards. Leo was already standing up, ready to hover Mikey up but a strong hand cut him off.

"I can move myself" Mikey huffed, hovering himself up so he was in a sitting position, without the help of Leo. April and Leo exchanged some glances, slightly surprised by Mikey's sudden outburst.

Mikey seemed to notice and his face flushed slightly, the uneasy feeling tingling in his stomach again. He didn't want to snap at his brothers like that. He dropped his head and look to the left, looking away from all the stares he was getting.

"I'm sorry Leo, I didn't mean to be so harsh" Mikey whispered, a sob wracking through his body. Leo immediately shot forwards, tipping Mikey's chin up and looking into Mikey's eyes. The blue eyes were trembling and filled with tears.

"Don't be Mikey" Leo said gently as he moved to the side slightly, so April could wrap the bandages around his chest. "But I think we should talk this all out, everything that happened" Leo said, releasing Mikey's chin again.

"Look, I'm sorry for everything, I really am but could we just drop it? I don't want to talk about it" Mikey said, wiping his tears away. Leo could feel his heart banging against his chest, seeing the hurt in Mikey's eyes was just too much.

"Yer sorry?" Raph huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Mikey slowly lifted his head up to Raph, almost cringing when he saw the anger in Raph's eyes, but it was different. Different than all the other times Mikey would piss Raph off.

Or when he was fighting with the purple dragons, or the Shredder. Different than the moment Splinter was flushed down the sewer drain, he had been slamming on the iron, trying to break through, but this anger was different, and Mikey had no idea why.

"You're being ridiculous, if anyone should be apologizing it should be us" Raph said, looking away. Mikey frowned slightly, sitting with his shell against the couch, so he was facing the rest of his family better.

"What do you mean? I-I screamed to you a-and I yelled and s-said all those things" Mikey stuttered, tears forming in his eyes again. Leo sighed and grabbed Mikey's ankle, elevating it so April could wrap it.

"He's right Mikey, you don't have to apologize. We ignored you all these months, I should've been there for you otouto, and I'm so sorry for that" Leo whispered as April began to tape Mikey's ankle.

"But… you were all busy and having your own problems…" Mikey said, confusion washing over him. "Your leg… and the whole new York thing… and…" He continued but was cut off by his blue cladded leader.

"And because of that we forgot to notice our precious little brother. You were suffering yourself, you were even sick and we didn't notice it until we actually saw it." Leo explained. Mikey winced slightly as he remembered the sick feeling he had been having just a few days ago.

"But that was after.. well you know, what happened with April's mom" He said, nothing really wanting to bring that up again, he just managed to get all of it out of his head, he didn't want to re-live it.

"And that was horrible, yes, but we all ignored you, and I, we are so sorry for that" April said, looking up slightly. Tears were also lingering in her eyes but she kept them at bay, looking over to Mikey.

"It's good April, really all of you. I feel better, I really do" Mikey tried to assure them, laughing nervously, but at the same time the uneasy feeling spread in his stomach again, and his brothers seemed to notice it directly.

"You're a terrible liar Mikey" Donnie pointed out and stood up, walking over to his younger brother and sitting next to him. "Just tell us the truth, it'll make you feel better" He said, holding Mikey's hand with his good arm.

Mikey swallowed down a lump forming in his throat as he glanced down again. He wanted to tell, he really did but he couldn't. He couldn't burden them with his small problems while there were bigger things to worry about.

April finished taping up Mikey's ankle and placed everything aside while Mikey was still looking down, his fingers twitching slightly in Donnie's hold. He wanted to, he really did but no words came out of his mouth.

"I just…" Mikey started, trying to find the right words. "So much happened a-and I was j-just so alone" He said after a few minutes pausing, searching for the right words to say. Nobody said anything or stopped Mikey, instead they just waited patiently.

"I-I was right about the mom-thing but nobody apologized or anything o-or noticed I was f-feeling sick afterwards.. " Mikey chocked. "I guess it just b-became too much and I s-snapped, I'm s-sorry" Mikey hiccupped, wiping away the new tears that came.

"You don't have to be sorry, we understand" Donnie whispered, wrapping his arm around Mikey. The freckled turtle sniffled and leaned his head against Donnie's plastron, closing his eyes for a bit.

Donnie allowed Mikey to cry in his hold, stroking his head to calm him down. Mikey was shaking as sobs wracked through his body, tears leaking down his cheeks. The whole family was silent, waiting what would happen next.

"Did you mean all of it?" Donnie whispered after a while, pulling out of the hug and looking into Mikey's eyes. "about us not appreciating you" Donnie said when he saw the confused eyes of Mikey.

"Yeah" Mikey confessed and bowed his head again. "You guys never appreciate me, nothing I do is good. And i-in the Kraang f-facility…." He started but had to stop as his body began to shake again, chocking on the sobs.

Donnie began to rub his head again, trying to calm him down so he could continue. Raph was now fully turned towards Mikey, watching with regret at his sobbing little brother, something he had created, all of them.

"Y-you didn't w-want me and …. K-kept tossing me a-around,…. I-it just hurt, n-nobody wanted t-to be with m-me" He sobbed. Donnie froze slightly, he remembered that day. How could he forget? It was the first time they fought the Shredder.

But what scared him the most was remembering the look on Mikey's face when they tossed him around, nobody wanting to be with him, and only then he realized they had hurt their little brother badly.

"I'm so sorry for doing that Mikey, I really am" Donnie said, taking Mikey into a hug again, resting his chin on Mikey's head. He bit his lip slightly and took a deep breath. "But you have to admit that it's also because you goof off a lot, you have to focus more."

Donnie held his breath, he didn't want to say it actually but it was better, for all of them. And he didn't want to know how Mikey would react to it. The silence seemed suffocating, nobody saying anything but eventually Mikey opened his mouth.

"I know Don… and I'm trying" Mikey said. " I just can't… no matter how hard I try… I always keep getting distracted…. But I'll work on it okay? I promise I'll try harder" Mikey said, smiling slightly. Donnie chuckled and wiped Mikey's tears away.

"And we promise ta appreciate ya more, besides ya saved my ass when that mutant frog came towards me remember?" Raph laughed, rubbing Mikey's head slightly. A low chuckle escaped Mikey's throat and nodded.

"Is there….anything else we should know?" Leo asked, feeling Mikey hasn't told everything yet. Mikey's face fell again, his face darkening. There was definitely something more. Leo swallowed slightly, seeing the sudden change in his little brother.

"I see him" Mikey's voice was so low they could barely hear him. Raph swallowed down a lump himself, Mikey's voice sounded so scared and hurt. And whatever he wanted to say couldn't be good.

"Who can ya see?" Raph asked, not really knowing if he wanted to know what Mikey had to tell. Mikey's body was shaking once again, but this time it was even worse, he was viciously trembling, almost chocking on his own sobs.

"F-father" He said after a few agonizing seconds. "I s-see him being f-flushed down e-every night…. and…" he said but before he could finish he felt two strong arms wrapping around him again, but it wasn't Donnie.

Instead he felt himself in the comfortable arms of his red banded turtle. A hand on the back of his head, pressing him against his own plastron. Mikey sniffled in his hold, remembering how he had been in the same situation 3 months ago.

But that time it was him comforting Raph instead of Raph comforting him, like now. Raph's eyes were burning, tears threatening to come but he pushed them back. He could feel his plastron being stained with tears and he bit his lip, forcing back the tears.

He gripped Mikey tighter and looked to the right. He could hear Mikey pained sobs, al the hurt he had been feeling the last months and that's when his tears fell too, and he sobbed on Mikey's shoulder, just like he had done three months ago.

"I-I was j-just so alone, n-nobody c-came. I c-cried but n-nobody came to me" Mikey hiccupped, burying his face deeper in Raph's plastron.

"Never Mikey, I'm here, we're all here" Raph said and sniffled slightly himself. "And we'll never leave you, turtle's honor" He said, kissing Mikey's temple slightly. Mikey nodded and closed his eyes, leaning into Raph's hold more and more.

"Look Mikey, I'm really sorry for hurting ya, we all are" Raph said as he noticed the sobbing had stopped slightly. Raph slowly pulled out of the hug but chuckled when he saw Mikey's eyes were firmly shut, and his labored breathing indicating he was already asleep.

"I love you baby bro" Raph said, placing Mikey's head against his plastron again and leaning back against the couch, Mikey still on top of his plastron, happily listening to his strong heartbeat, just like when they were young.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~The end~
> 
> So it seems like my one-shot turned into a…. six-shot I guess? xD
> 
> Anyways, this is the end of the story, and I just want to thank everyone who reviewed and read this, followed it etc.
> 
> You guys are amazing! ^^


End file.
